Not many riders alive—let alone in history—can say that they’ve filmed a standout video part and gotten top three at a major snowboard contest in their careers, but France’s Arthur Longo is not many riders alive, because that’s exactly what he did last year. While in front of the lens of TransWorld Snowboarding’s "Origins", Arthur and fellow Frenchmen Victor Daviet and Victor De Le Rue tore the French Alps a new one and in-between trips for that project, Arthur found a little time to drop into the U.S. Open halfpipe and take home second place before jet-setting off to ride some more pow and stack clips for his part. Ross Powers is no stranger to the podium at the Open and he was the first to lament on Longo’s insane season, saying, “Huge tricks with style on all kinds of features, 2nd at the U.S. Open, and tons of coverage” while all-mountain Swiss master and former pipe savant Nicolas Müller says, “He rips the pipe harder and with more style than most and he's one of the few who are on the contest tour and still manage to film video parts.” And yet another rider who grew up on the competitive pipe circuit and is now engrained in the full-time filming regimen, Pat Moore, had this to say about why Arthur should be in the Top Ten this year, saying, “Arthur's style is one of my favorites. He goes big, is fluid, and you never know what he's going to throw.” While this is Arthur’s first time on our coveted Rider of the Year list, he’s got the backing of many voters who have a say in who makes the cut and now that he’s on their radar, as well as the general snowboarding fanbase, we’re sure he’s got incredible things in store after a phenomenal winter, so give three cheers for this flying Frenchman. Hip hip, beret!

At its core, this ranking is intended to celebrate the riders who were the most exceptional professional snowboarders from December 1st, 2014 to November 31st, 2015. These riders are recognized for the fundamental responsibilities of being a professional snowboarder. This is based strictly upon the amount and quality of video parts, contest results and magazine coverage with an emphasis on diversity of terrain and discipline variance. Ideally, this process brings us to the individuals who most influenced the progression of snowboarding on a consistent basis over the course of this past season.

For 2016, our Rider of the Year award rollout will once again be an exclusively digital happening. Each weekday from Monday, January 4th until Monday January 25th, SNOWBOARDER will highlight a different rider’s achievement, culminating with the ultimate praise of naming our 2016 Rider of the Year.